" ... Islam has probably a billion
and a half adherents today. It exists. And it is probably the
most compelling spiritual and moral force on earth
today. People hate to hear that. [3]"

Ramsey Clark, former
US Attorney General.

There is no doubting it, Islam is a rather
unique phenomenon in History. It motivated the Arabs to build a
hugely successful civilisation which spread with an energy never
before seen on Earth. A civilisation which was to give birth to
many of today's sciences and to provide great advances the
existing sciences. From the middle of the desert came a religion
that inspired a civilisation that led the world for well over a
thousand years. Within a matter of a few decades after the
Prophet Muhammad (saws) had died, the new Islamic state had
conquered lands from Spain through to India.

In relatively recent times its spread has
become truly global with Muslim communities living in practically
every country in the world. Through traders in 1600's onwards,
communities which became established in South East Asia spread
the message of Islam, and today, the largest populations of
Muslims can be found in these countries. In America and Europe,
Islam is now the fastest growing religion and second only to
Christianity in number of followers. In Britain, it is estimated
that the number of Muslims regularly attending Friday prayers at
the mosque will soon exceed the number of Christians attending
church on Sunday.

Despite colonial occupation of Muslim lands
by Christian Europeans in places for hundreds of years, and
extensive efforts at converting the populations to Christianity,
the people have kept to the religion of Islam. In many countries
today, Islamic political parties are the leading opposition to
the (often neo-colonial) governments and are beginning to take
the reins of power in others.

There have been periods of weakness and
periods of strength, but most Muslims realise that the periods of
strength and success correspond to periods where Islamic
teachings were the motivating force of the people and of their
rulers and that the periods of weakness and failure correspond to
corrupt rulers and people neglecting to follow the religious
teachings of Islam.